CarlingNet - No 1 for Match Reports

Everton v Coventry 04/11/96 8.00

Everton                 (1) 1 Coventry                (0) 1 FT
Stuart 45 (pen)               McAllister 68

Gary McAllister warmed up for World Cup duty with Scotland to deny Everton their fourth successive victory.

Coventry's 31-year-old midfielder struck after 68 minutes to give the Premiership strugglers only their second away point of the season.

McAllister, expected to play a key role against Sweden on Sunday, cancelled out the opener by Graham Stuart from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time.

Everton's goal came courtesy of £5.75million record signing Nick Barmby, whose shot was handled by Kevin Richardson.

Former Middlesbrough star Barmby could have marked his debut with a first-half hat-trick but he faded in the second half when McAllister came into his own.

Everton had enough chances in the first half to have put the game out of Coventry's reach. But for prolonged spells in the second half they were under pressure, although both sides had chances to wrap the points up.

Coventry striker Noel Whelan split the Everton defence with a perfectly-weighted pass into the area. Sub Peter Ndlovu was completely clear four yards out but somehow steered his shot over the top.

Then in the final minute Coventry were grateful to John Salako for getting back and clearing a header from Dave Watson off the line with keeper Steve Ogrizovic beaten.

Barmby got a rousing reception from the Everton fans after his move last week but there was again disappointment for Duncan Ferguson who was forced to miss the game because of a calf strain.

Barmby nearly got on the scoresheet after two minutes when Paul Telfer carelessly lost possession. Barmby reacted quickly but Ogrizovic got down well and Stuart dragged his shot wide of the post when a goal seemed likely.

Telfer then diverted the ball to safety as Barmby waited to pounce after a shot from Andrei Kanchelskis had been beaten out.

Then Gary Speed saw his shot deflected up in the air and Ogrizovic made a marvellous point-blank save from a Barmby header.

The Coventry keeper was forced to work overtime and again denied Barmby after Craig Short had played through a marvellous ball.

Coventry was struggling to stem the flow of attacks from the home side, although Richardson was unlucky to see keeper Neville Southall punch away a goal-bound shot.

Everton were rewarded for their pressure when Barmby, always in the thick of the action in the first half, fired in a shot and Richardson put up his hand. Coventry fiercely disputed the penalty but Stuart kept his cool to fire the ball into the corner for only his third goal of the season.

Barmby should have put Everton further ahead after being released by Kanchelskis only to delay his shot and Coventry managed to scramble the ball away.

McAllister then stunned the home fans with the equaliser with a swerving shot from the edge of the area but took a slight deflection off Gary Speed.

It was only Coventry's second goal on their travels and McAllister got that as well at West Ham.

Joe Parkinson then sent the header wide and sub Michael Branch found the side netting with a fierce drive.

Then came a remarkable closing spell with both Coventry's Ndlovu and Everton's Watson going close but in the end both teams had to settle for a point.